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A new approach to cancer treatment involves extracting a patient’s bone marrow and then infecting it with a virus which carries a genetic immunity to certain chemotherapy drugs. 

It’s perhaps too deterministic to say that your genes determine everything you do. It’s more like the deck of cards that you’re dealt at birth. What you do with that […]

Susan Stautberg founded the group WomenCorporateDirectors with the aim of putting more women on corporate boards globally.

As part of the American University project documenting the history of investigative reporting, School of Communication professor Charles Lewis asked Bob Woodward to reflect on the Bush administration’s ability to […]

Author and Journalist Jeff Jarvis warns against the tendency to view new technology as a threat, arguing that this stance cedes power to regulators and corporations that may not have […]

The journalist and author believes that the extent to which technology benefits humanity is up to us, its users.

At the heart of Big Think’s mission is a firm belief that the Internet is helping to grant the general population a better education. To better serve that mission we […]

As we find more planets outside our solar system and more terrestrial life that survives brutal conditions, scientists are wondering what a completely new form of life might be like. 

Space weather experts estimate that in the next decade, there is a 12% chance of a solar storm causing major disruptions to our electricity grids, which remain woefully unprepared. 

Why are some Americans so strongly opposed to gay marriage? Henry Rollins is convinced that not so many people are actually opposed. Instead he sees it as a fundraising tool for small fringe groups.

The FCC is trying to balance the threat of terrorism against the benefits of having wireless networks in an emergency, e.g. to aid first responders. And what about free speech rights?

Originally recorded May 7, 2012.

A federal judge has ruled that “liking” something on Facebook does not count as constitutionally protected speech. It is a decision that has confounded some law professors. 

Votifi is an online platform that encourages positive, nuanced political exchange. After you sign up, the website sends you daily polls through your browser or mobile device and creates a […]

What should Democrats compromise on this year? Absolutely nothing, says Van Jones.

Harvard researcher Elizabeth Spelke studies the minds of babies to better understand how we think and behave as adults. She believes language is the key to our creative processes. 

Scientists have determined that whether or not you like the smell of pork, a large component of how it tastes, is determined by a gene in your DNA. There is a genetic link to the food we like. 

Forget marathons, people. The first 20 minutes of exercise confer all its essential health benefits. Fitness researcher Gretchen Reynolds says you can do anything to get your body moving. 

Michael J. Sandel is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government at Harvard University, where he has taught political philosophy since 1980. His recent book, Justice: What’s […]

The political philosopher and Harvard professor on the limits of the free market.

Writers invest their very lives in their work, so who should they turn to when a manuscript is finished? Increasingly, literary agents are taking the place of publishing house editors. 

While many businesses are predicting big money from Big Data, Peter Fader thinks that today’s data analysis tools serve us quite well. There is actually little to gain with more data. 

This interview was broadcast live at bigthink.com at 3:30 PM on Thursday, April 26, 2012.

We explore our environment more than we are compelled to utter poetry when we’re toddlers, says Neil deGrasse Tyson.

As the world’s largest particle collider reaches higher energy levels, scientists can better understand how the Universe’s constituent particles formed just after the big bang. 

Sonar is a mobile app that lets you know when friends and the friends of your friends are in your vicinity. The app uses information from networks such as Facebook, […]